Hinge holdopen



Jan. 29, 1957 LA VERNE B, RAGSDALE 2,779,051

HINGE HOLDOPEN Filed April 23, 1953 INVENTOR W E TORNEY IA- i UnitedStates Patent-O HINGE HOLDOPEN La Verne B. Ragsdale, Dearborn, Mich.,assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation ofDelaware Application April 23, 1953, Serial No. 350,704

4 Claims. (Cl. 16-140) This invention relates to a hinge holdopen, andmore particularly to an improved holdopen device for automobile doorhinges.

One feature of the invention is that it provides an improved hingeholdopen; another feature of the invention is that it provides a pair ofholdopen levers rockably supported intermediate their ends opposite eachother on the hinge box walls, with a portion of each lever lying in thepath of swinging movement of the hinge strap; a further feature of theinvention is that the portion of each lever in the path of swingingmovement of the strap is on one side of the rockable support and thelevers are interconnected on the other side of the rockable support by aspring, said levers being forced apart against the compression force ofthe spring upon swinging movement of the hinge strap; still anotherfeature of the invention is that it provides a hinge holdopen which maybe easily manufactured and assembled, the parts being separate metalstampings with no permanent connections between them; and yet anotherfeature of the invention is that the holdopen levers, which are of rigidmaterial, are provided with an oset portion in the path of swingingmovement of the hinge strap providing a cam surface for engagement bysaid strap to obtain a holdopen action.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and from the drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a horizontal sectional view through a portion of an automobiledoor and body hinge pilla-r showing the hinge holdopen apparatus, thearrangement of the parts when the door is closed being shown in solidlines and the arrangement of the parts when the door is open being shownin broken lines;

Fig. 2 is a lsection taken along the line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3--3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a detail section taken along the line 4--4 of Fig. l, showinga portion of the hinge box and one of the holdopen levers; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the holdopen levers.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, 10 is an outer sidepanel of an automobile body, and 11 is a door hinge pillar mounted onsaid body, said pillar having a hinge face 12 which is spaced from thecooperating hinge face 13 of an automobile door 14. The door preferablyis secured to the body by two hinges which are spaced vertically. Onlyone of these hinges is illustrated in the drawing.

A hinge box is mounted within the body hinge pillar 11 by mea-ns ofscrews 16. The box is generally U- shaped, having a base wall 18 andopposite side walls 19 and 20, each having a ange 19a and 20arespectively by means of which the hinge box is secured to the hingeface 12 of the pillar 11.

A hinge pin 21 is mounted between the walls 19 and 20 and forms apivotal support for a gooseneck hinge ice strap 22 which is mounted forswinging movement between the walls 19 and 20 and which has a free endportion 23 extending through an opening 24 in the hinge face 12 of thebody hinge pillar. The free end portion 23 is secured to the hinge face13 of the door 14 by means of screws 25 and a reinforcing plate 26 onthe inner surface of the hinge face of the door.

`In order to provide a holdopen action in the operation of the door,holdopen levers 28 and 29 are supported intermediate their ends oppositeeach other on the hinge box walls 19 and 20 for rocking movement towardand away from each other. A portion of each lever lies in the path ofswinging movement of the strap 22 and a spring 48 interconnects thelevers, the strap engaging the levers and forcing them apart against theforce of the spring upon swinging movement of the strap when the Idooris opened.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 5, the holdopen lever is formed withdetents 30 intermediate its ends which 'detents support the lever forrocking movement on the adjacent hinge box wall. The lever has a portion32 on one side of the detent 30 (see Fig. 3) which lies in the path ofmovement of the strap 22, and the lever is formed with an offsetshoulder portion 34 in the path of swinging movement of the strap 22providing a cam surface for engagement by the strap. At one end thelever is formed with a lug 36 and intermediate its ends it is formedwith lianges or lugs 37 and 38. The hinge box walls 19 and 20 areinterconnected by a strap 40 having slots 42 adjacent each end thereof.When the holdopen levers are mounted in the hinge box, the end lug 36 ofeach lever is received in one of these slots, the slot being wider thanthe lug as shown in Fig. 3 to permit rocking movement of the lever. Thehinge Vbox walls 19 and 20 are also formed with slots 43 and 44 forreceiving the lugs 37 and 38 (see Fig. 4). The lug and `slotinterconnection above described between each holdopen lever and theadjacent hinge box Wall provides guide means whereby movement of eachlever is guided in two planes transversely disposed with respect to eachother (i. e., in directions transversely and longitudinally of thelevers) so that the levers are properly held in place but still may rockabout an axis formed by the detents 30.

On the other side of the detents 30 from the strap engaging portion 32is an embossment 45 formed by punching or extruding a hole 46 throughthe holdopen levers. The embossment 45 provides a hub for supporting acoil compression spring 4S.

'In the operation of the device, when the door is closed as shown insolid lines in Figs. 1 and 3, the hinge strap 22 is out of engagementwith the holdopen levers. When the door is opened, the hinge strappivots to the broken line position of Fig. 1 and engages the portion 32of the levers which is in the path of swinging movement of the strap,the strap rocking the levers about the detents 30 against the force ofthe compression spring 48. As the door approaches fully open position itrides over the offset portion 34, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 3, sothat the levers 28 and 29 provide a yieldable door holdopen. The spring4S is strong enough that the door will not close under such ordinaryforces as gravity or the force of the wind blowing against the opendoor, but when the door is manually pushed or pulled closed, the strap22 rides up over the cam surfaces formed by the otset portions 34 androcks the levers 28 and 29 about the axis of the detents 30.

The construction is such that there are no permanent connections, suchas screws or rivets, between the separate parts of the holdopen device,thus facilitating assembly of the device. Furthermore, the holdopenlevers 2S and 29 are simple stampings of rigid metal, such as steel, andmay be easily and cheaply formed by modern mass production methods.Since there is no spring action inherent in these levers, themanufacture of the levers is quite simple. Furthermore, since the leversare not of spring material, they may be made stronger and more ruggedthan similar levers formed of spring steel, while at the same time, thecompression spring 48 provides a yieldable holdopen action.

While VI have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it iscapable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the constructionand arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

l claim:

l. A hinge hold-open of the character described, including: a hinge boxhaving opposite walls; a hinge arm pivotally mounted on said hinge boxfor swinging movement between said walls; a pair of rigid hold-openlevers having means loosely supporting them intermediate their endsopposite each other, one on each wall, for rocking movement toward andaway from each other about respective spaced axes, with a portion ofeach lever ad jacent one end thereof lying in the path of swingingmovement of said hinge arm, the means loosely lsupporting said leverscomprising complementary lug and slot connections between each lever andthe adjacent hinge box wall, the lugs iitting loosely in the slots toallow limited shifting of the axis about which each lever rocks; and aspring which is under compression extendingT hetween said leversadjacent the other end thereof, said hinge arm engaging said leverportions and forcing said portions apart against the force of the springupon swinging movement of the arm.

2. Apparatus of the character claimed in claim l, wherein the means forloosely supporting the levers on the hinge box walls comprises at leastone turned lug projecting from each lever and extending through a slotin the hinge box wall, the slot being larger than the lug.

3. Apparatus of the character claimed in claim l, wherein each lever hasat least one detent engaging the hinge box wall to provide for rockingmovement of the lever.

4. A hinge holdopen of the character described including: a hinge boxhaving opposite walls; a hinge arm pivotally mounted on said hinge boxfor swinging movement between said walls; a pair of rigid hold-openlevers having means loosely supporting them intermediate their endsopposite each other, one on each wall, for rocking movement toward andaway from each other about respective spaced axes, with a portion ofeach lever adjacent one end thereof lying in the path of swingingmovement of said hinge arm, each lever having a detent engaging theadjacent hinge box Wall and providing for rocking movement of the leverabout said axis, and the means loosely supporting said levers comprisinga pair of turned lugs projecting from opposite sides of each lever andprojecting through slots in the adjacent hinge `box Wall, the slotsbeing larger than the lugs so that the lugs ,tit loosely in the slots toallow limited shifting of the axis about which each lever rocks; and aspring which is under compression extending between said levers adjacentthe other end thereof, said hinge arm engaging said lever portions andforcing said portions apart against the force of the spring uponswinging movement of the arm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,131,339 Valletta Sept. 27, 1938 2,342,531 Dean Feb. 22, 19442,594,582v Quinn Apr. 29, 1952

